


show me a garden

by ThisJoyAndI



Category: Nashville (TV)
Genre: F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7586233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisJoyAndI/pseuds/ThisJoyAndI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(that's bursting into life)<br/>Juliette, Avery, and their future. 'He deserves the world, and if he doesn’t want this baby, doesn’t want to upset the fragile happiness they’ve managed to secure for themselves with their daughter, well that’s something she’ll have to take into consideration.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	show me a garden

When Cadence is nearly three and a half she wanders into the bathroom to find her mother slumped beside the toilet. It is a scene eerily reminiscent of one from three years ago, but this time Juliette's eyes are dry, her gaze entirely absorbed by the object in her hands. It is only when Cadence walks over to her and places a hand on her mother’s leg that Juliette notices her daughter’s presence, startling somewhat at the feel of Cadence’s perpetually sticky hands.

“Hi, baby girl,” she croons, letting the test fall out of her hands and onto the ground. Her now empty hands smooth down Cadence’s wayward blonde hair, the strands somehow having escaped the confines of a hair elastic yet again. “I thought you were napping.”

“Not tired,” Cadence protests, curling her little hands into fists. 

Juliette makes a soft noise in the back of her throat, smiling gently at her daughter. “That’s alright,” she tells Cadence, softly, as if it is a secret to be shared only between them. “Sometimes I’m not tired either.”

Cadence nods, relieved that she isn’t going to be made to return to bed, before pointing at the test Juliette let fall onto the bathroom tiles. “What’s that?” she asks, her desire to pick it up thwarted by her mother’s tight grip on her.

“Nothing for you to worry about baby,” Juliette says, shifting a hand off of Cadence to move the test behind her. She sucks in a shallow breath, before asking, “But could you please go get your daddy for me? He’s downstairs, in the studio.”

Her phone’s right beside her, its timer now infuriatingly flashing at zero, so she could easily text him. However, sending Cadence to get him not only ensures the end of her daughter’s questions, but also gives Juliette a few blessed moments to herself, a chance to collect her thoughts and figure out just what she is going to tell Avery. This may be a discussion they’ve had in the past, but it is something they’ve talked about in only the most abstract of terms. If the test currently situated behind her is anything to go by, it has now become all too real, all too soon. For the first time in years she feels a little like she is underwater, struggling to breathe, and the return of such a feeling scares her.

Cadence nods, shifting out of Juliette’s grip. As soon as she disappears from sight, her little feet noisily making their way through the house down to the studio, Juliette exhales sharply and stands up, glaring at the test. How could this have happened, when they’ve been so very careful? It’s not that she begrudges such a thing occurring, not at all. It’s just scary, this blatant reminder that she is so lucky to not only be alive but to have both Cadence and Avery in her life, Avery’s arms tight around her at night and her daughter’s eager if somewhat unwelcome yelling waking her up every morning.

She bends to pick the test up, placing it on the vanity. Lifting her shirt up slightly, Juliette carefully studies her appearance in the mirror for a few moments before Avery enters the bathroom, Cadence trailing right behind him. Juliette manages to throw him a weak smile, dropping her shirt instantaneously to cover the tiny bump she’s been trying to convince herself for weeks was merely weight gain. Like usual, the moment he looks at her Avery can sense something is wrong, her husband crouching down and whispering something to their daughter. Cadence nods eagerly at his words, almost running out of the room in her haste to leave.

Juliette arches a brow. “What did you promise her?” she queries, laughing slightly as Avery wraps his arms around her. There’s an indentation on his neck from the headphones he’s been wearing, and she rubs the red marks away softly, her hands eager for something to do.  

“I told her she could have some of her special chocolate and watch some television,” Avery replies, leaning into her touch. “Let’s hope she doesn’t smear the chocolate all over the couch like last time.” Juliette winces somewhat at the memory, but shakes her head lightly at Avery.

“I’ll make this quick, then,” she says, reluctantly pulling out of his embrace. “For the safety of the couch.”

Avery grins, running a hand through his hair. Juliette’s left hand comes to rest on the vanity, curling around the test. She inhales sharply, and without pause, without any preamble, she tells him, the test now firmly in her grasp. “Avery, I’m pregnant.”

Avery looks at her, blinking. He too inhales sharply, eyes wide. First, he looks down at the positive test in her hands, and then, at her. She offers him a small smile, a mere twitching of the lips, as a means of reassuring him. Maybe she _should_ have told him through text, like she did with Cadence. That worked out well enough in the end. But no, Avery deserves to be told in person. He deserves the world, and if he doesn’t want this baby, doesn’t want to upset the fragile happiness they’ve managed to secure for themselves with their daughter, well that’s something she’ll have to take into consideration. She isn’t entirely sure she wants this baby herself, even though the mere thought of it growing in her belly right this very second floods her heart with joy. Being a mother, a wife, that’s all that truly matters to her. The sold-out concerts, the number one singles, the million dollar bank account, it all means next to nothing when she looks at Cadence’s grinning face and knows that her daughter loves her. She loves performing, but she loves coming home more. She only regrets that it took her so long to realise it. 

“Pregnant,” Avery repeats, a finger twirling his wedding band around his finger, an action he does only when deep in thought. “But we’ve been so careful,” he murmurs, an eyebrow quirked in questioning.

Juliette nods. “I know,” she says, dropping the test so she can wrap her arms around Avery like he did her only moments before. It lands nosily in the sink, and Avery almost startles at the sound. She places a hand on either side of his jaw, her wedding ring cool against his flushed cheek, and forces him to look directly at her. “We have options,” she dares to murmur, even with the baby growing, living, existing right this very second inside of her, a part of Avery, a part of her. Like Cadence, it is surely nothing short of perfection. She swallows thickly. “…We don’t have to keep it.”

Avery frowns at her words, pulling his head out of her grasp to peer down at her. “Juliette, no,” he declares, shaking his head. He smiles. “No, I don’t want you to get rid of this baby,” he says, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “It was just a shock, that’s all.” He kisses her lips lightly, beaming against her mouth. “I cannot think of anything I’d like more than for Cady to have a sibling. I want this baby, but all that really matters is how you feel about it. Are you okay, having another? Do you think it’s too soon?”

Juliette presses her face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the smell that is distinctly Avery. It steadies her somewhat, as does his arms around her. She does think it’s too soon. She doesn’t know if she’ll be okay having another, but similar thoughts still plague her occasionally when she awakes, unsure if she’s fit to be Cadence’s mother even after all these years. Her depression is something she’s going to have to deal with for the rest of her life, there’s no avoiding it. She still sees Dr. Kipley once every other week, the therapist on speed-dial for the times Juliette does desperately need to speak to someone, and any reminder of what happened in Orlando causes her heart to race uncontrollably.

But all of that shouldn’t prevent her from achieving what she wants in life, shouldn’t stop her from doing anything she desires to. And she does want to have another baby. Cadence is more a little girl than a baby now, and Juliette missed out on so many months when she was little, her daughter teething by the time she dealt with her issues and could return to her. She doesn’t want this baby just so she can experience all those moments though, she wants this baby because she knows just how lonely it was being an only child. She wants this baby because it is a part of her, a part of Avery, and even though she has only just learnt of its existence she already loves it, whomever it may become. She wants this baby so she can continue to tackle her depression, can prove to herself, to the press, that she is a capable mother. She wants this baby because just like with Cadence, even though they have been so very careful, it has somehow come into existence, and Juliette would like to think that that means something. Cadence and Avery are more than enough for her, more than she could have ever hoped, but another baby would be nice. There’s more than enough room, enough money, enough love, so why not?

“I want this baby, Avery,” she murmurs, quietly. She inhales shakily, before pulling back to smile up at him. “I’m scared, I’m terrified, but I want this baby.” 

Avery brushes her hair behind her ears, caressing her cheeks gently. “We’re here,” he tells her, just like he has each and every day since they reunited. “We’ll always be here.”

Juliette’s hand comes to rest on her stomach, the tiny bump she knows, if her pregnancy with Cadence is any proof, she will soon be unable to hide. There’s no need for her to hide it anyway, not this time. Her latest tour finished weeks ago, her next album is in the process of being written, not recorded, and she deserves some time-off. She already planned to take some, as soon as Avery was finished with his latest producing project. A family holiday would have been nice, but a new baby sounds even better. And there’s no reason they can’t still take one, just as long as she doesn’t have to fly. A road-trip to Ohio to visit Avery’s parents could work, especially since Cadence hasn’t seen them since Christmas.

“I hope it’s a boy,” she shares. A boy, hopefully with Avery's dark hair, would be lovely.

“Whatever it is,” Avery says, his grin so wide she cannot help but reciprocate, “it is going to be so lucky to have you as its mother.”

_Juliette Barnes and Avery Barkley are ecstatic to announce the arrival of their son, Reed Robert.  Both mother and baby are doing well, and big sister Cadence is said to be thrilled with the newest Barnes-Barkley._


End file.
